Buried Debris Reminds Lubbock of 1970 Tornado - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

35 years ago, on May 11th, 1970, tragedy struck the Hub City.

An F-5 tornado, with winds in excess of 200 miles an hour, ripped through downtown Lubbock. Twenty-six people were killed, and hundreds more were injured.

The twister damaged or destroyed a large section of the city, mainly north and east of 19th Street and University Avenue. It devastated the community along an 8 1/2 mile path, measuring up to a mile and a half wide in downtown Lubbock, and a quarter of a mile wide as it passed over the Weather Bureau Office at the airport.

The tornado was responsible for $125 million in damage, with an estimated 25-square miles of the city damaged or destroyed. In the aftermath, the city of Lubbock opened a landfill to bury all that debris. Now, 35 years later, the Quest Memorial Grove and Canyon Lakes System mark the location of that site.

get more- Web Enhanced National Weather Service 1970 Lubbock Tornado Page Take an in depth look at the 1970 tornado that struck Lubbock.